I am delighted to by today’s stop of the Blog Tour for Heidi Swain’s fantastic new novel, Summer at Skylark Farm. A tale of farming, orchards, animals and romance…. find out more about the book and the author below!
Title: Summer at Skylark Farm
Author: Heidi Swain
Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK (a Books and The City digital original)
Publication Date: 2 June 2016
Twitter: @Heidi_Swain
Blog/website: http://heidiswain.blogspot.co.uk/
Blurb
Amber is a city girl at heart. So when her boyfriend Jake Somerville suggests they move to the countryside to help out at his family farm, she doesn’t quite know how to react. But work has been hectic and she needs a break so she decides to grasp the opportunity and make the best of it.
Dreaming of organic orchards, paddling in streams and frolicking in fields, Amber packs up her things and moves to Skylark Farm. But life is not quite how she imagined – it’s cold and dirty and the farm buildings are dilapidated and crumbling.
But Amber is determined to make the best of it and throws herself into farm life. But can she really fit in here? And can she and Jake stay together when they are so different?
Review
When her boyfriend Jake decides to up-sticks and move to his elderly aunt’s farm in the countryside, city girl Amber decides to move with him to Skylark Farm for the summer (little does he know that it is a time-limited test!) and decide whether life in the country will be enough for her or whether the pace of country life will drive her back to her old life in London. Little does she realise that life on a farm is not exactly off the pages of ‘Country Living’ magazine!
The characters are charming and well developed, with the main protagonist being organiser and workaholic Amber. When we first meet her, Amber really is a city girl through and through, and it’s great fun reading about her trials and tribulations whilst getting her head around farming life. Moving in with the gorgeous Jake is a plus point to the move and its lovely that they can work together to get to grips with the farm. I loved the relationship that develops between Amber and Jake’s Auntie Annie. Whilst in the little town of Wynbridge, Amber meets Jake’s friends – Jessica, Harriet and Henry- along with a few villager who readers may already have met from The Cherry Tree Café – Jemma and Lizzie, all of whom are extremely likeable and realistic character. I could certainly imagine myself sitting in the pub with them on a Friday night.
Wynbridge itself is a lovely setting and a great little town with a fantastic sense of community which has Amber feeling right at home from the moment she arrives. The only cloud on the horizon is the well-timed return of Jake’s ex-girlfriend, Holly – the sort of girl that you have to keep a careful eye upon….
Summer at Skylark Farm is an engaging story that will make you grab your Joules wellies and head out to pastures green, an idyllic tale of village life and countryside dreams.
About the Author
A lover of Galaxy bars, vintage paraphernalia and the odd bottle of fizz, she now writes contemporary fiction and enjoys the company of a whole host of feisty female characters.
Heidi can be found at the keyboard at all hours of the day and night and quite often scribbling longhand in her car during her lunch break. She lives in stunning south Norfolk with her wonderful family and a mischievous cat called Storm.
Her debut novel, The Cherry Tree Cafe, was published on July 16th, 2015 and became an Amazon bestseller.
The Curious Ginger Cat 